Emma Watson
Emma Charlotte Duerre Watson (born 15 April 1990) is an English actress and model. She rose to prominence playing Hermione Granger in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Potter_(film_series) Harry Potter film series]; she was cast as Hermione at the age of nine, having previously acted only in school plays. She starred in all eight Harry Potter films, alongside Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint. Watson's work on the''Harry Potter'' series has earned her several awards and more than £10 million. She made her modelling debut for Burberry's autumn/winter campaign in 2009. In 2007, Watson announced her involvement in The Tale of Despereaux and the television adaptation of the novel Ballet Shoes, which was broadcast on 26 December 2007 to an audience of 5.2 million. The Tale of Despereaux, based on the novel by Kate DiCamillo, was released in 2008 and grossed more than US $86 million in worldwide sales. In 2012, she starred in Stephen Chbosky's film adaptation of The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and was cast in the role of Ila in Darren Aronofsky's biblical epic Noah. Early life and education Emma Watson was born in Paris, France, the daughter of English lawyers Jacqueline Luesby and Chris Watson. Watson lived in Paris until the age of five. Her parents separated when she was young; following their divorce, she moved with her mother and younger brother to Oxfordshire, spending weekends at her father's house in London. Watson has stated that she speaks some French, though "not as well" as she used to. After moving to Oxford with her mother and brother, Watson attended the Dragon School in Oxford, remaining there until 2003. From the age of six, she wanted to become an actress,and trained at the Oxford branch of Stagecoach Theatre Arts, a part-time theatre school where she studied singing, dancing, and acting. By the age of ten, she had performed in various Stagecoach productions and school plays, including Arthur: The Young Years and The Happy Prince, but she had never acted professionally before the Harry Potter series. Following the Dragon School, Watson moved on to Headington School. While on film sets, she and her peers were tutored for up to five hours a day. In June 2006, she took GCSE examinations in ten subjects, achieving eight A* and two A grades. Career 1999–2011: Harry Potter films In 1999, casting began for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (released as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the United States), the film adaptation of British author J. K. Rowling's best-selling novel. Casting agents found Watson through her Oxford theatre teacher, and producers were impressed by her confidence. After eight auditions, producer David Heyman told Watson and fellow applicants Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint that they had been cast for the roles of the schoolfriends Hermione Granger, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley respectively. Rowling supported Watson from her first screen test. The release of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in 2001 was Watson's debut screen performance. The film broke records for opening-day sales and opening-weekend takings and was the highest-grossing film of 2001. Critics praised the performances of the three leads, often singling out Watson for particular acclaim; The Daily Telegraph called her performance "admirable",[19] and IGN said she "stole the show". Watson was nominated for five awards for her performance in Philosopher's Stone, winning the Young Artist Award for Leading Young Actress. A year later, Watson again starred as Hermione in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the second instalment of the series. Reviewers praised the lead actors' performances. The Los Angeles Times said Watson and her peers had matured between films, while The Times criticised director Chris Columbus for "under-employing" Watson's hugely popular character.Watson received an Otto Award from the German magazine Bravo for her performance. In 2004, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was released. Watson was appreciative of the more assertive role Hermione played, calling her character "charismatic" and "a fantastic role to play". Although critics panned Radcliffe's performance, labelling him "wooden", they praised Watson; The New York Times lauded her performance, saying "Luckily Mr. Radcliffe's blandness is offset by Ms. Watson's spiky impatience. Harry may show off his expanding wizardly skills ... but Hermione ... earns the loudest applause with a decidedly unmagical punch to Draco Malfoy's deserving nose." Although Prisoner of Azkaban proved to be the lowest-grossing Harry Potter film of the entire series, Watson's personal performance won her two Otto Awards and the Child Performance of the Year award from Total Film. With Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), both Watson and the Harry Potter film series reached new milestones. The film set records for a Harry Potter opening weekend, a non-May opening weekend in the US, and an opening weekend in the UK. Critics praised the increasing maturity of Watson and her teenage co-stars; the New York Times called her performance "touchingly earnest".For Watson, much of the humour of the film sprang from the tension among the three lead characters as they matured. She said, "I loved all the arguing. ... I think it's much more realistic that they would argue and that there would be problems." Nominated for three awards for Goblet of Fire, Watson won a bronze Otto Award. Later that year, Watson became the youngest person to appear on the cover of Teen Vogue,an appearance she reprised in August 2009. In 2006, Watson played Hermione in The Queen's Handbag, a special mini-episode of Harry Potter in celebration of Queen Elizabeth II's 80th birthday. The fifth film in the Harry Potter franchise, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, was released in 2007. A huge financial success, the film set a record worldwide opening-weekend gross of $332.7 million. Watson won the inaugural National Movie Award for Best Female Performance. As the fame of the actress and the series continued, Watson and fellow Harry Potter co-stars Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint left imprints of their hands, feet and wands in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood on 9 July 2007. By July 2007, Watson's work in the Harry Potter series was said to have earned her more than £10 million, and she acknowledged she would never have to work for money again. In March 2009, she was ranked 6th on the Forbes list of "Most Valuable Young Stars", and in February 2010, she was named as Hollywood's highest paid female star, having earned an estimated £19 million in 2009. Despite the success of Order of the Phoenix, the future of the Harry Potter franchise became surrounded in doubt, as all three lead actors were hesitant to sign on to continue their roles for the final two episodes. Radcliffe eventually signed for the final films on 2 March 2007, but Watson was considerably more hesitant. She explained that the decision was significant, as the films represented a further four-year commitment to the role, but eventually conceded that she "could never let role of Hermione go", signing for the role on 23 March 2007. In return for committing to the final films, Watson's pay was doubled to £2 million per film; she concluded that "in the end, the pluses outweighed the minuses". Principal photography for the sixth film began in late 2007, with Watson's part being filmed from 18 December to 17 May 2008. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince premiered on 15 July 2009, having been delayed from November 2008. With the lead actors now in their late teens, critics were increasingly willing to review them on the same level as the rest of the film's all-star cast, which the Los Angeles Times described as "a comprehensive guide to contemporary UK acting". The Washington Post felt Watson to have given "her most charming performance to date", while''The Daily Telegraph'' described the lead actors as "newly-liberated and energised, eager to give all they have to what's left of the series". Watson's filming for the final instalment of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, began on 18 February 2009 and ended on 12 June 2010. For financial and scripting reasons, the original book was divided into two films which were shot consecutively.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Potter_and_the_Deathly_Hallows_%E2%80%93_Part_1 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1] was released in November 2010 while the second film was released in July 2011. 2007–11: Other acting work Watson's first non-''Potter'' role was the 2007 BBC film Ballet Shoes, an adaptation of the novel of the same title by Noel Streatfeild. The film's director, Sandra Goldbacher, commented that Watson was "perfect" for the starring role of aspiring actress Pauline Fossil: "She has a piercing, delicate aura that makes you want to gaze and gaze at her." Ballet Shoes was broadcast in the UK on Boxing Day 2007 to an audience of 5.7 million viewers, to mixed reviews. Watson also lent her voice to the role of Princess Pea in the animated film The Tale of Despereaux, a children's comedy starring Matthew Broderick with Harry Potter co-star Robbie Coltrane (playing the character of Rubeus Hagrid) also starring in the film. The Tale of Despereaux was released in December 2008 and grossed $87 million worldwide. In December 2008, Watson stated she wanted to go to university after she completed the Potter series. She appeared in a music video for One Night Only, after meeting lead singer George Craig at the 2010 Winter/Summer Burberry advertising campaign. The video, "Say You Don't Want It", was screened on Channel 4 on 26 June 2010 and released on 16 August. In her first post-''Harry Potter'' film, Watson appeared in 2011's My Week with Marilyn as Lucy, a wardrobe assistant who has a few dates with the main character, Colin Clark. 2012–present In May 2010, Watson was reported to be in talks to star in a film adaptation of The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Filming began in summer 2011 and the movie was released in September 2012. In June 2012, Watson was confirmed for the role of Ila in Darren Aronofsky's Noah, which began filming the following month for a March 2014 release. In August 2012, she confirmed that she would begin filming Guillermo del Toro's Beauty and the Beast in the summer of 2013, ahead of a release in 2014. In March 2013, it was reported that Watson was in negotiations to star as the titular character in a live-action Disney adaptation of Cinderella. Kenneth Branagh was attached to direct the adaptation, while Cate Blanchett had reportedly agreed the evil stepmother. Watson was offered the role, but turned it down. The same month, she withdrew from an adaptation of the book Your Voice in My Head. In The Bling Ring (2013), Watson stars as Nicki. The film is based on the real-life Bling Ring robberies, with Watson playing a fictionalized version of Alexis Neiers - a television personality who was one of seven teenagers involved in the robberies. While the film mostly received mixed reviews, critics gave almost unanimous praise for Watson's portrayal of Nicki in the film. Watson also had a supporting role in the apocalyptic comedy This Is the End (2013), where she played herself. In June 2013, Watson is again teaming-up with producer David Heyman for her next film Queen of the Tearling, she will lead the film as Kelsea Glynn and also executive producer. Film is an adaptation of an upcoming book of the same name. Warner Bros. will distribute the film. Modelling In 2008, the British press reported that Watson was to replace Keira Knightley as the face of the fashion house Chanel, but this was denied by both parties. In June 2009, following several months of rumours, Watson confirmed that she would be partnering with Burberry as the face of their Autumn/Winter 2009 campaign, for which she received an estimated six-figure fee. She also appeared in Burberry's 2010 Spring/Summer campaign alongside her brother Alex, musicians George Craig and Matt Gilmour, and model Max Hurd. In February 2011, Watson was awarded the Style Icon award from British Elle by Dame Vivienne Westwood.Watson continued her involvement in fashion advertising when she announced she had been chosen as the face of Lancôme in March 2011. In September 2009, Watson announced her involvement with People Tree, a Fair Trade fashion brand. Watson worked as a creative advisor for People Tree to create a spring line of clothing, which was released in February 2010; the range featured styles inspired by southern France and London. The collection, described by The Times as "very clever" despite their "quiet hope that she would become tangled at the first hemp-woven hurdle", was widely publicised in magazines such as Cosmopolitan, and People. Watson, who was not paid for the collaboration, admitted that competition for the range was minimal, but argued that "Fashion is a great way to empower people and give them skills; rather than give cash to charity you can help people by buying the clothes they make and supporting things they take pride in"; adding, "I think young people like me are becoming increasingly aware of the humanitarian issues surrounding fast fashion and want to make good choices but there aren't many options out there." Watson continued her involvement with People Tree, resulting in the release of a 2010 Autumn/Winter collection. Watson has appeared for six years running in men's magazine FHM's 100 Sexiest Women list. She first appeared in the list, voted for by readers, in 2007, placing 98th. The following years saw her placed 33rd, 47th, 29th, 23rd and in 2012, 64th. Student and personal life After leaving school, Watson took a gap year to film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows beginning in February 2009,but said she "definitely wanted to go to university". The Providence Journal reported that Watson had confirmed that she had chosen Brown University, located in Providence, Rhode Island. In March 2011, after 18 months at the university, Watson announced that she was deferring her course for "a semester or two", to give her more time to participate in the advertising buildup for the release of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Potter_and_the_Deathly_Hallows_%E2%80%93_Part_2 second Deathly Hallows film], and other projects. Watson continued her studies reading English at Worcester College, Oxford University. Watson was due to return to Brown for her senior year, but has postponed her studies until further notice to work on film projects. Filmography Awards and nominations Category:1990 births